Middle Bar

📚 What you’ll learn

You will locate the Middle Bar, also sometimes referred to as the 3rd loop. This is a tricky one but can create a beautiful texture.

Take a look at your Half Double Crochet swatch. Each stitch has two loops at the top: the front loop is the one closest to you, and the back loop is the one farthest from you, forming the top V of the stitch.
Look just behind the top of the V to find another loop. You’ll notice a second V formed by the back loop and the loop behind it. In this position, that loop is considered the third loop.
Turn the work so the stitch faces you. That same loop now sits in front, just below the top V. Here it is called the middle bar, another option for inserting the hook to create interesting textures.

Chain 7 for a small sample, the last 2 chains count as a stitch.
Hdc in the 3rd chain and each chain across the row. Locate the 3rd loop behind and under the top V, turn your work.
Notice the same loop or line under your top V, in the front now.
Chain 2 (counts as a stitch), insert your hook in the next stitch, in that loop below the V. This is the Middle Bar (3rd loop). Finish your hdc as usual, working in this Middle Bar. Hdc in the middle bar across the row, turn.
Chain 2 (counts as a stitch), repeat this process across the row, working only in the middle bar. Notice the chain that is popping out on the surface of your work. This V is your top V, showing here because you are not stitching into it but into the loop below it.

You can recognize the Middle Bar (3rd loop) and distinguish it from the front and back loops of the top V.